Professional Help

From these pages, advice on how to focus, flex, hone, heal, ride and rest

"My Favorite Place: Great Athletes in the Great Outdoors" by Jason Paur (Chronicle Books, $35)

This is a beautiful and beautifully done book, a celebration of the outdoors and those athletes who capture its breadth and grandeur. It shows some of the world's top outdoors athletes in their element. Two of the athletes are from Seattle: mountain-climbing legend Ed Viesturs and ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek. Washington snowboarder Barrett Christy is also featured.

Much of the text is handed over to the athletes who recount some reasons behind their sports and their love for them. The photography by Corey Rich is sweeping and intimate at the same time.

Christy, for example, calls Mount Baker home, and for no other reason than the mountain. Actually, for no other reason than the snow that piles up on it. A professional snowboarder and Olympian, she says, "I ride well into May. There's always stuff to do up there, as long as you don't mind hiking." Jurek, seven-time winner of the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run, describes his mental as well as physical approach. Viesturs, who has reached the summit of Mount Everest six times, calls Mount Rainier, "a full meal."

While it can be hard for some of us mortals with 9-to-5 jobs to relate, it is an inspiring package.

"Mental Training for Peak Performance" by Steve Ungerleider (Rodale, $14.95)

A slim line separates first and second, achieving and "almost." Sports psychologist Steve Ungerleider looks at athletes who have mastered the mental edge and explains theories behind the mental aspects of sport, but also relays concrete examples from elite athletes.

Among the topics: positive self-talk and affirmations to erase bad habits and poor preparation; deep-breathing and meditation for pre-event relaxation, and developing "guided imagery" to reduce anxiety and pain.

Tips from champs, coaches and experts are sprinkled through the book. Cycling champion Karl Maxon, for instance, puts No. 1 on his list, "trust what you do."

"Sports Injuries Handbook" edited by Joe Kita (Rodale, $9.95)

This little 96-page book packs a wallop for men like me, whose bodies need constant maintenance and tune-ups. The editors of Men's Health magazine have organized the book by body parts and their most common specific injuries. The authors describe how the injuries feel, how it likely happened, what the doctor will probably tell you and ways to avoid it in the future.

I'd be careful about over-relying on the medical-advice aspect of the book, but it does do a nice, well-illustrated job of getting the basic points across. I'd keep it in the bookshelf for quick reference.

"Bike For Life: How to ride to 100" by Roy Wallack and Bill Katovsky (Marlowe & Co., $16.95)

These "bicycle journalists" tell you how to go the distance by offering a full menu of ideas, from training strategies to a "cycling-specific yoga routine." The authors offer advice on how to avoid common injuries, from cyclist's knee to biker's back. They even tell how to avoid mountain lions, bike-jackers and poison ivy. Oh my!

There is a lot of information packed in the 330-page book, but what it does best is take the marathon route, not an uphill sprint.

"Full-Body Flexibility" by Jay Blahnik (Human Kinetics, $17.95)

Personal trainer and fitness expert Blahnik takes readers on an exhaustive look at stretching, striving to take stretching beyond an afterthought.

Blahnik blends principles and moves from yoga, Pilates, martial arts and traditional sports training into a well-rounded flexibility and strength program.

The book spends most of its 193 pages on illustrations of various stretches. Many of the stretches focus on reducing tightness and tension, but also included are routines that can be done in 10-, 20- or 40-minute intervals. Some stretches are sport-specific.

"The Body Noble" by Derek Noble and Carol Colman (Wiley, $24.95)

Noble is billed as Hollywood's coolest trainer, but I won't hold that against him. He actually has many interesting ideas and tips to offer.

He implores readers, in using his techniques, to exercise more efficiently and with greater results. He writes that the type of workout you do depends on your body type. Are you a lean machine who has trouble gaining weight? Or a fat fighter?

The book is well-illustrated, and the instructions for the exercises are clear.

"yoganap" by Kristen Rentz (Marlowe & Co., $15.95)

Rentz applies yoga to combat not just sleeplessness, but other modern-life scourges, from stress to back pain.

This is yoga on the go, too, with tips on such things as the "elevator bend forward."

Richard Seven is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff writer. He can be reached at rseven@seattletimes.com.